Center Parcs UK put up for sale ‘with £5bn price tag’

Center Parcs has been put up for sale by its Canadian owner with a bid of up to £5bn expected for the UK resort chain, according to reports.

Canadian private equity group Brookfield bought the business for around £2.4bn eight years ago and is said to be expecting to raise between £4bn and £5bn in the sale.

There are six holiday locations under the UK and Ireland banner which operate independently of Center Parcs in Europe and elsewhere.

The UK chain has sites in Bedfordshire, Wiltshire, Suffolk, Nottinghamshire, Cumbria and Ireland, with its first - in Nottingham’s Sherwood Forest - having opened in 1987.

Brookfield and Center Parcs both declined to comment.

The potential sale follows Center Parcs in February pulling out of a project to develop a new forest holiday village resort in Crawley, West Sussex.

The decision was made to not proceed after protests from environmentalists.

Company chief executive Colin McKinlay said at the time: "Whilst it is disappointing that we will not be able to bring Center Parcs to this part of West Sussex, this decision demonstrates how seriously we take our responsibility to the environment, as well as our ongoing commitment to enhancing the natural habitats in which our villages are located.”

At the end of 2022, Center Parcs occupancy rates were at 97.3 per cent and revenues have, according to a Brookfield report, been rising since the pandemic.

Mr McKinlay added: “Through our customer insights, we are confident that there is strong demand in the UK market for a sixth Center Parcs village and, with this in mind, we will continue our search for a suitable site."